Commission declares county‑owned food‑pantry building surplus; staff begin advertisement for sale after unsolicited $1.5M offer

County staff told commissioners that Friends of Switchpoint submitted an unsolicited offer to buy the county‑owned building currently occupied by the food pantry and proposed a purchase contract with $1.5 million as the purchase price and $20,000 in earnest money for a related building. Andy Welch’s staff said the property had been appraised twice (appraisals completed end of 2023) and that the offered price exceeded the appraisal average.

Because the property is county‑owned, state rules require that the county first declare the asset surplus before a negotiated sale can proceed. Staff explained the process: declare surplus, publish two weeks’ public notice in the paper, hold a public hearing, wait 14 days and then adopt the sale contract if the commission wants to proceed. Commissioners adopted the surplus resolution at the June 3 meeting to start that statutory process.

Staff emphasized that the county is selling “as is,” will not provide seller disclosures or a general warranty deed, and will not purchase title insurance; those terms appear in the negotiated addendum. The county indicated it will continue to accept public comment during the surplus/advertising timeline and will hold the public hearing required by state law before any final sale adoption.

Direction and timeline: Staff said they will begin the public‑notice timeline immediately so the commission can hold the required hearing in mid‑June and, if the commission desires, consider formal sale adoption at the first July meeting after required notices and waiting periods are completed.

Ending: The commission declared the property surplus and directed staff to proceed with the public‑notice and surplus sale timetable; commissioners reserved final approval of any contract until after the statutorily required public‑notice and hearing steps are completed.